Character
by Tina Marina
Summary: Jack Sparrow through the eyes of a decidedly non-spunky twelve year old. Written for Rowena De Vandal's 1000 Words or Less Challenge--Aug 2008.


**A/N: Hello! I don't own PotC. Enjoy!**

What, were you expecting a miracle?

Were you expecting me to act out of character, jeopardize my very existence for a man I barely knew?

I feel as though I should explain, excuse myself, though I nearly drove myself mad with all the doubts I had following the incident.

xxx

We were opposite, Captain Sparrow and I. I was a child, a naive girl, and the idea of a man past thirty years struck me as very old. He longed for adventure and thirsted for wealth, whilst all I really wanted was safety.

Safety is a luxury, and I was never one to forget it.

My parents never bothered to create it or preserve it; they preferred to inch slowly away from their freakish daughter and wait for her to waste away. I was a nearly invisible slip of a twelve year old, all bones and angles and unused dress.

My mother, who lived under the illusion that we were at all wealthy, chose to spend money that we did not have on the finest of second rate London fashion. While the dresses were beautiful, we were forced to wear them until they were mere rags, and then a bit longer while my mother waited for new ones to reach us. My father liked to joke that she needn't buy a whole dress for me; I'd easily fit into a sleeve.

But all this is immaterial. The real tale I tell is between May and August of our tenth year in the Caribbean. The time Jack Sparrow spent with us.

xxx

On May 5, the news reached my parents and I that talk of pirates was sweeping the isle. We were probably the only family celebrating such news, for if pirates came into town, it would certainly mean more business for us. As much as we were scrupulous, God-fearing townsfolk, the village drunk is a bit drab after a while.

My parents never worried about my seeing the prisoners. I was only a girl of twelve, and hardly a female temptation.

I knew not what it was that made all of me so thin and pale, even my hair and eyes, but my parents told me it was only out of their love for me that I was not promptly killed as a witch's baby. I suppose witches were scarce in England back then.

xxx

To see Jack Sparrow in a jail cell was much like seeing a bird with broken wings. Their noise was their only weapon. It was not uncommon for him to sing pirate shanties loudly all throughout the day. He was only truly silent in slumber, but as I came around to give him his modest rations, he appeared inches from my face.

"Thank you, luv," he said, sweeping the cup and crust of bread up rather grandly.

I admit, I recoiled quickly, not knowing what the infamous pirate was up to.

He reacted with a chuckle. "Nothing to fear, luv," he said somewhat sarcastically. "I'm all locked away!"

"My apologies, Mr. Sparrow," I said softly.

"You know, luv," the captain began, "You seem to know who I am while keeping your own identity a mystery."

I instinctively moved deeper into shadow, knowing he was probably trying to catch a glimpse of my face. "My name is Anna," I said, still a little nervous.

The captain exited the conversation at once, probably plotting his escape.

For some reason, I curtsied as I took my leave.

Xxx

My father, absorbed in more urgent matters, had no sympathy for me involving Captain Sparrow.

"Anna, the man hangs at dawn," he snapped. "Now bring him his rations at once."

I entered the prison breathless. The two guards, Smits and Corbin, exchanged a look as I raced to the captain's cell. "Captain," I hissed. "They plan to hang you tomorrow at dawn."

The man was once again close at once. "Dawn, eh?" He remained quiet for a few seconds. "Listen, Anna darling…"

I was surprised he had remembered my name at all. "Y-yes?"

He wasted no time. "I need you to slip me the key."

As much as I wished to see him escape, I could not get the look of my furious parents out of my head. "But they would let me hang—"

"Think of it, rather than helping me to escape, as a happy accident," Captain Sparrow continued.

I was trapped. On the one hand, I hardly knew Captain Sparrow. But on the other, think of all the adventure that would die with him. I was nothing compared to such a figure. I was worthless compared to this man.

xxx

I watched Captain Jack Sparrow hang the next morning.

I couldn't bring myself to accept what I had done. I had let a life slip away simply due to my cowardice! Because I had been too afraid to save Jack Sparrow, he now would be destined for a shallow grave in an unmarked yard, hardly the death he deserved.

In a lack of acceptance came madness. Or, at least what my parents took as madness. I couldn't stand the small spaces I had once spent my days. I ventured outside time and time again, my skin blistering and peeling each and every instance.

My parents, at a loss, decided it was best for me to simply go home to England.

I resisted with as much effort as my badly abused body could muster. "I couldn't possibly abandon the beautiful Caribbean for dreary, rainy England," I said crossly, standing on the dock. It was as though to realize the island in its true beauty I had to leave my sane mind behind.

Now that I can see that there was no way I could release the pirate; it wouldn't be proper. I've reclaimed my true self.

"Anna! Anna," my father shouted, a thin sheen of sweat breaking out across his face. "Please Anna, please." He rubbed his brow. "Just shut the hell up, and get in the boat."


End file.
